The invention relates to a method and apparatus for handling and delivering fragile bulk food products especially breakfast cereals such as cornflakes and the like from the production stage to consumption. Specifically, the invention relates to a system in which the manufacturer delivers the product in large containers to the place of sale where each large container holds several sales portions. The consumer measures and packages a given amount of product in a selected package without the possibility of contamination of the product.
It is well known that packaging for breakfast cereals such as cornflakes are disposable and that such packaging constitutes a substantial part of the product's price. Along with the unnecessary increase in price, the consumer also has the burden to dispose of the empty package which has a negative impact on the environment. Moreover, manufacturers and retailers are reluctant to introduce unusual solutions to these problems if there is any risk of losing sales.
The usual product packaging system from the manufacturer to the consumer consists of the following operations or components:
1) portioning the product from storage into sales volume units; PA1 2) packing the product into bags; PA1 3) placing the bags into cartons: PA1 4) placing the filled and closed cartons into large trays; PA1 5) protecting the cartons on the trays with shrink-film or paper; PA1 6) placing the trays on pallets; PA1 7) protecting and securing the trays to the pallets with shrink-film; PA1 8) receiving the pallets at the store and discarding the shrink-film or paper and the trays; PA1 9) arranging a display of cartons on the store shelves; PA1 10) cleaning the display area; PA1 11) choosing a carton from the shelves by a customer; PA1 12) paying for the carton at the cashier and placing the carton in a grocery bag; PA1 13) discarding the grocery bag; PA1 14) placing the carton in the consumer's kitchen cabinet or emptying the carton's contents into a reusable container; PA1 15) serving the product directly from the carton or container; PA1 16) discarding the empty carton into a garbage container; and PA1 17) emptying the garbage container into an outside garbage container. PA1 1) portioning from production to large bag with several sales portions; PA1 2) placing the bag in a reusable palletbox; PA1 3) emptying the bag into a dispensing unit at the store location; PA1 4) throwing away the large bag; PA1 5) customers portioning the product into their own chosen package; PA1 6) paying at the cashier; PA1 7) placing the filled container/bag into the grocery bag; PA1 8) placing the container/bag into the kitchen cabinet; PA1 9) dispensing product directly from container/bag: and PA1 10) refilling the empty dispenser.
As will be apparent, this process requires that the carton holding the product be handled to a large degree thereby requiring that the packaging be made of strong material resulting in added cost. To be able to place the bags in the cartons, the bags must have less volume than the cartons. Moreover, the handling causes shaking of the carton that results in breakage. The customer finds the low volume and breakage unacceptable. As a result, the manufacturer must explain in writing on the carton that the cartons are filled by weight and that the unused or unfilled part of the carton is due to settling of the product during transportation. Samples from several breakfast cereal products show that it is customary to find the cartons to be only two-thirds full.
Another downside to the use of cartons is the use of shelf space in the retail stores and the labor necessary to keep order on the shelves. A problem for the consumer is that the cartons are unnecessarily large and two cartons will take up the space of a regular grocery bag. In one known method that eliminates the poor utilization of resources and poorly used throw-away cartons, the bag filled with the product is not placed in the carton but all of the other functions and packaging described above are maintained. The downside with this method is that the product, without the protection of the carton, will have a higher degree of physical abuse during the handling from the manufacturing site to the consumer, which will result in significant breakage of the produce and poor presentation on the retail shelves.